A new indoor playground built around mega-sized sandboxes, toy trucks and construction gear is set to open its doors in Puyallup this Saturday. Dig and Discover, located at 707 River Road, held a spooky sneak peek for kids on Halloween before its full grand opening, and it's aimed at giving young children a place to dig, build and play no matter the weather outside.
The business is owned by Decca Calloway and her husband, Anthony, according to The News Tribune. Calloway has said the idea for Dig and Discover came after her nephew kept asking to play outside in the sand, even when it was raining. The concept reportedly took more than a year to develop, per Calloway.
The space sits on River Road between a hair salon and a Dollar Tree, in a storefront that formerly housed Children's Bookshop & Teaching Supplies, the outlet reports. Anthony Calloway, who works in construction, is credited with originating the dig-site theme that runs through the playground's design.
What's Inside: Sandboxes, Shovels and Party Rooms
Inside, families will find multiple sandboxes along with two party rooms available to reserve for private play, according to the same report. The playground is stocked with shovels, rakes, toy trucks and plenty of construction-themed toys for kids to dig into.
Dig and Discover is designed for children ages 1 through 8, and Calloway has said she hopes the environment lets children explore freely and learn, while also giving parents a chance to connect with their kids through play.
Pricing, Hours and a Buried-Treasure Twist
Admission runs $15 for one child to play for 30 minutes, with the option to add another 30 minutes for $5, the station's report notes. Children under 12 months can get in for half price, or free if they come in with an older sibling.
The business also plans a Wednesday Happy Hour from 3 to 5 p.m., when kids can play for the full two hours for $20. Down the road, Dig and Discover intends to host theme nights where children can use metal detectors to search for buried treasure, per the same account.
Regular hours are set for Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday from 3 to 5 p.m., and Friday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The playground will be closed on Mondays.
Part Of A Broader Indoor Sandbox Trend
Puyallup's new playground arrives amid a wider boom in indoor sand play spaces around the country. A Detroit Free Press column described indoor sandboxes as having “a granular moment,” noting that franchises from a national company are expanding into Michigan, according to freep.com. In Farmington Hills, Michigan, Nirav and Abhi Patel opened Sandverse, inspired by their son Shivay's love of playing in sand, with a 60-foot-long, 1,232-square-foot play area charging $16 for one hour or $20 for two, with discounts for additional kids.
Three miles south in Farmington, a franchise of the Dublin, Ohio-based company Little Diggers opened in September, advertising more than 50 tons of sand and 100 toys, including ride-on excavators, across a 1,000-square-foot sandbox, according to Little Diggers. That business says general play is first come, first served, while private events and birthday parties require a reservation.
Closer to home, the Sand Garden in Issaquah offers two large sandboxes totaling 1,400 square feet and stays open rain or shine, as detailed by ParentMap. Dig and Discover's own website lists its grand opening for Saturday, Nov. 7.
